Aston Villa’s Newham generals Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause got demoted by West Ham United as Hammers ran out 4-1 winners at Villa Park.
West Ham consolidated their place in the top four by seeing off Aston Villa on Sunday night.
David Moyes’s side went into the game off the back of four consecutive wins in all competitions while Dean Smith’s Aston Villa had lost their last three.
And it showed for long spells despite Villa showing some fight.
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Dean Smith made a big – and somewhat surprising – call for the match as he dropped captain Tyrone Mings electing to pair Konsa and Hause at centre-back.
The Newham Generals are a grime duo from East London, consisting of MCs D Double E and Footsie.
And things turned grimy for Villa’s own Newham defensive generals Hause and Konsa when West Ham came to town on Sunday evening.
What some West Ham fans may not know is that both players have Hammers roots.
Konsa was born and raised in the West Ham heartland that is Newham and started his football journey with the famous Senrab side that supplied the Hammers with some top players down the years.
But West Ham never came calling for Konsa.
Hause’s West Ham links are even stronger. The 26-year-old Ilford man was released by West Ham at 16 having joined the club’s academy at a young age from his local side Lakeview FC.
He had been a regular for West Ham’s under-16s, including taking part in a tour of Bermuda in 2010.
So both players would have been keen to put on a good show against their hometown club.
But perhaps too keen.
The pair were given a torrid time of it by the Hammers and Hause should have been sent off for a dangerous forearm smash on Pablo Fornals which could have seriously hurt the Spaniard.
Hause somehow escaped a red leaving even Villa boss Smith surprised.
But Konsa was not so lucky, being shown a red after his foul on Jarrod Bowen in the immediate aftermath of the Hause challenge was deemed to have stopped a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Aston Villa’s Newham generals Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause got demoted by West Ham
Hause was then at fault as he was too eager to beat Michail Antonio to the ball and West Ham’s number nine turned the defender, before combining with Manuel Lanzini to set up Bowen for the fourth goal.
The spotlight was on Villa’s Newham generals at the back after Smith’s decision to drop Mings.
But the duo got demoted by Antonio and co at Villa Park.